CTS Q4 2025 Earnings Report

CTS EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.62
• Consensus EPS: $0.60
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.02
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

CTS Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $137.27 million
• Expected Revenue: $135.86 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$1.41 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

CTS Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2025
• Date: 2/10/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 10:00AM ET

CTS (NYSE:CTS) (NYSE: CTS) designs and manufactures sensors, actuators, electronic components and assemblies used in a range of industrial and commercial applications. Its products include pressure, temperature and position sensors; piezoelectric and other actuators; switches; electronic controls; frequency-control products; and custom-engineered assemblies.

The company serves customers in the transportation, aerospace and defense, industrial, medical and communications markets. CTS products are used in applications such as vehicle systems, industrial automation, medical equipment, aerospace systems and other products that require sensing, control, switching or electronic connectivity.

CTS traces its history to 1896, when it was established as Chicago Telephone Supply. The company is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, and operates through manufacturing and engineering locations serving customers in North America, Europe and Asia. Kieran O'Sullivan has served as CTS's president and chief executive officer.

CTS Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Diversification progress: Diversified end markets now represent ~59% of revenue and grew 16% YoY in Q4, supporting higher-quality earnings and margin expansion.
• Positive Sentiment: Financial results & guidance: Q4 sales were $137M (+9% YoY) with adjusted gross margin up 150 bps to 39.1% and adjusted EPS of $0.62; management forecasts 2026 sales of $550–$580M and adjusted EPS of $2.30–$2.45.
• Positive Sentiment: End-market momentum: Medical sales surged 41% in Q4 with bookings up 37%, while industrial sales rose 16% and bookings were up 22%, indicating broad-based demand recovery.
• Negative Sentiment: Transportation headwinds: Transportation sales declined 7% in 2025 due to China and commercial vehicle weakness; management expects H1 2026 softness even as they secured ~$100M in Q4 awards and longer‑lead wins (e.g., floor-hinged tech) that start revenue in 2028.
• Positive Sentiment: Cash generation & capital return: Strong operating cash flow of $102M in 2025, a cash balance of $82M, and $57M of buybacks completed (1.4M shares) with ~$90M remaining under the repurchase program.

Presentation

[Operator]

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the CTS Corporation 4th Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. I will now hand the call over to Kieran O'Sullivan. Please go ahead.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to report another solid quarter for CTS, demonstrating the continued progress and strength of our diversification strategy and operational execution. For the 4th quarter, we delivered strong performance with revenue growth of 9% year over year, with our diversified end markets growing 16% versus the prior year period. I am particularly pleased with our diversification progress as these markets now represent almost 60% of overall company revenue. New business awards in transportation were strong, which will drive long-term growth in that end market. As we look to the year ahead, we see continued growth momentum across our diversified markets, increasing revenue and quality of earnings. In transportation, we continue to expand our portfolio of powertrain agnostic products. Pratik Trivedi, Chief Operating Officer, is also joining myself and Ashish Agrawal, our CFO, for today's call.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Ashish will now take us through the Safe Harbor Statement. Ashish?

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

I would like to remind our listeners that this conference call contains forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties is contained in the press release issued today, and more information can be found in the company's SEC filings. To the extent that today's discussion refers to any non-GAAP measures under Regulation G, the required explanations and reconciliations are available with today's earnings press release and the supplemental slide presentation, which can be found in the Investors section of the CTS website. I will now turn the discussion over to our CEO, Kieran O'Sullivan.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Thank you, Ashish. We finished the 4th quarter with sales of $137 million, representing a solid 9% increase compared to the 4th quarter of 2024. Our diversified-end markets were up 16%. Transportation sales were essentially flat. For the full year, sales were $541 million, up 5% from $515 million in 2024. Diversified-end market sales were 59% of overall company revenue in the 4th quarter and 57% for the full year 2025. Our Book-to-Bill Ratio for the 4th quarter was 1.0, up 3% compared to the 4th quarter of 2024. For the full year 2025, the Book-to-Bill Ratio was 1.04 compared to 1.01 in 2024, indicating sustained customer demand across our diversified portfolio of products. Looking at bookings performance, medical bookings showed robust growth driven by continued strength in therapeutic applications. Industrial bookings were strong, driven by stabilized OEM demand and the recovery in distribution.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Defense bookings were down, though our pipeline remained strong with backlog levels supporting future growth. We added three new customers in defense and one in the industrial market. In transportation, we had strong new business awards in the quarter. We added floor-hinged accelerator technology to our portfolio and secured a first win. Our operational execution was evident as we expanded our gross margin by 150 basis points in the 4th quarter and for the full year. We maintained strong cash flow generation supporting our balanced capital allocation approach that includes strategic investments in growth and returning cash to shareholders. 4th quarter adjusted diluted earnings were $0.62 per share, up from $0.50 in the 4th quarter of 2024 as we continue to focus on driving profitable growth. For the full year 2025, adjusted diluted earnings were $2.23 per share, up from $2.12 in 2024.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Ashish will add further color on our financial performance later in today's call. Our medical end market delivered strong performance in the 4th quarter, with sales increasing 41% versus the prior year period, reflecting the strong growth momentum across our medical portfolio, particularly in therapeutic applications where we're seeing robust demand. For full year 2025, sales were $85 million compared to $70 million in 2024, up 21%. Bookings in the quarter were up 37% compared to the prior year period. The book-to-bill ratio for 2025 was 1.07, similar to 2024, reflecting continued momentum in this end market. We continue to see growth prospects in minimally invasive applications where our precision sensors and transducers are enhancing ultrasound imaging capabilities for medical professionals. These technologies are critical in helping clinicians detect artery restrictions with greater accuracy while enabling more effective delivery of treatment medications directly to targeted areas.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

This represents meaningful advancement in patient care and clinical outcomes. Our teams are engaged in next-generation product development to further enhance diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities with our customers. We are working closely with leading medical device manufacturers to integrate our advanced sensing technologies into their platforms, creating solutions that can provide even more detailed imaging and diagnostic information to healthcare providers. I want to emphasize the lifesaving nature of the solutions we provide to the medical industry. We are proud to highlight that our products support solutions that help save lives. This mission-critical role in healthcare drives our commitment to the highest quality standards and continuous innovation. Additionally, our products aid blood analysis and flow, cancer treatment, and are incorporated into pacemakers and cochlear implants. Our therapeutic products enhance skin aesthetics and, in combination with other medical procedures, help improve skin tightness.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

During the 4th quarter, we had multiple wins across all regions for medical ultrasound. We also had a large win for therapeutic products and a win for a pacemaker application. Demand remains strong for therapeutic products, and we expect increased volumes in 2026. Over time, we expect volume increases in portable ultrasound diagnostics as healthcare systems increasingly move to point-of-care solutions. Therapeutic products should continue to enhance our overall growth profile, supported by an aging population and minimally invasive treatment options. Aerospace and defense sales for full year 2025 were $83 million, up 20% from $69 million in 2024. Sales for the 4th quarter were down 4% from the 4th quarter of 2024 due to timing of certain programs. SyQwest revenues in the 4th quarter were $6 million as we navigated government funding cycles, which we expect to improve in 2026.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

While bookings were down in the 4th quarter, full-year bookings were up 15%. Our pipeline remains strong, with backlog levels supporting future growth. We are making progress on our strategy, moving from a component supplier to a supplier of sensors, transducers, and subsystems, and is further validated by the Naval award in the 3rd quarter of 2025. We received multiple orders in the quarter for Naval sonar and hydrophones. In addition, we had wins for RF filters with application in anti-jamming and in drones. Finally, we secured new awards deploying our frequency, vibration, and temperature sensing capabilities. In the quarter, we added three new customers for underwater locator beacons and for sonobuoys electronics. The SyQwest operation continues to drive a pipeline of opportunities as we move into 2026, and as mentioned earlier, we expect decision-making and funding to improve this year.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

The long-term nature of defense programs provides revenue visibility and supports our diversification objectives. Our industrial end-market demonstrated solid momentum in the fourth quarter, continuing the gradual recovery trend we've been tracking throughout 2025. We are seeing signs of stabilization and growth both from our OEM customers and distribution partners as industrial activity rebounds from previous cyclical lows. Sales in the fourth quarter were up 16% compared to the prior year period, underscoring our expectation of continued market strength. Full year 2025 sales were $140 million compared to $125 million in 2024, up 12%. Bookings in the quarter were up 22% from the same period last year. The book-to-bill ratio for the full year 2025 was 1.11 compared to 1 in 2024.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

We were successful with multiple wins across a diverse range of industrial applications in the quarter, including distribution components, industrial printing, and EMC applications where our components help ensure electromagnetic compatibility in industrial equipment. Temperature sensing applications represented another area with wins for heat pumps, pool and spa, and for commercial appliances. These applications leverage our expertise in precision sensing to help industrial customers optimize their operations and improve energy efficiency. We added a new customer in the quarter for a frequency application. Demand across the industrial-end market is expected to remain healthy in 2026. We expect our industrial performance to benefit from the long-term megatrends of automation and connectivity that should enhance our growth prospects. The increasing digitization of industrial processes, push for greater energy efficiency, and the ongoing automation of manufacturing create expanding opportunities for our advanced sensing technologies.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Transportation sales faced headwinds with sales of $234 million for 2025 compared with $250 million in 2024, down 7%, driven by the previously discussed market dynamics in China and in the commercial vehicle market. 4th quarter sales were $56 million, essentially flat versus the same period last year. Despite sluggish market conditions, we secured new business awards of approximately $100 million in the 4th quarter. We gained significant awards across various product groups, including accelerator module wins with OEMs in China, Japan, Europe, and North America. As mentioned earlier, we added floor-hinged technology to our portfolio of products and secured a first win with revenue expected in 2028. Floor-hinged designs are expected to expand in EV applications, especially in international markets. In the quarter, we secured a smaller award for a commercial vehicle actuator application. Across our sensor portfolio, we had wins for passive safety, braking, and transmission position sensing.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

We also secured an advanced development contract for our DrivePad technology with a large Japanese OEM, adapting to future software-defined vehicle architectures. Overall, we continue to strengthen our footwell presence while adding powertrain agnostic sensing capabilities. Total book business was approximately $1 billion at the end of the quarter. Interest in our eBrake product, offering weight and cost advantages, continues across OEMs at a slower pace as certain OEMs continue to recalibrate EV investments and launch dates. The electronic brake market represents a growth opportunity as the industry moves toward more advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous capabilities. Overall, our solutions deliver meaningful cost and weight benefits to OEMs, which become increasingly important as they balance performance, efficiency, and affordability requirements. We remain confident in the long-term growth prospects for our eBrake and other footwell products.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

These, along with existing and new sensor applications, will increase our ability to grow content. Turning to the outlook for 2026. For our diversified end markets, demand is expected to be solid. In the medical market, we see continued momentum in therapeutics where we have expanded capacity. In aerospace and defense, revenue is expected to grow given our backlog, SyQwest capabilities, and the normalization of government funding. Industrial and distribution sales are expected to be solid. Longer term, we expect our material formulations, supported by three leading technologies and their derivatives, to continue to drive growth in key, high-quality end markets in line with our diversification strategy. Across transportation markets, production volumes are expected to be flat to marginally down given the tariff impact, consumer demand, and in line with global light vehicle volume forecasts from IHS.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

The North American light vehicle market is expected to be in the $15-$16 million unit range. European production is forecasted in the $16-$17 million unit range. China volumes are expected to be in the $32 million unit range. We continue to monitor potential impact from supply chain issues related to rare earth, metals, and semiconductors, although we are not seeing any significant immediate impact. We anticipate general softness in commercial vehicle demand in the first half of 2026, with the potential for improvement in the second half of the year. Qualification of our next-generation smart actuator across our customers' platforms is progressing, and we plan to implement further product enhancements later in 2026.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

We continue to closely monitor and evaluate the tariff and geopolitical environment while focusing on agility in adapting to cost and price adjustments in close collaboration with our customers and suppliers as we navigate supply chain pressures. Our strong balance sheet, healthy cash generation, and experienced teams provide us with the tools necessary to manage these headwinds while continuing to invest in growth opportunities and also advancing innovation. Our increasingly diversified business model continues to enhance our growth and quality of earnings. Assuming the continuation of current market conditions for full year 2026, we expect sales in the range of $550-$580 million and Adjusted Diluted EPS to be in the range of $2.30-$2.45. Now I'll turn it over to Ashish, who will walk us through our financial results in more detail. Ashish?

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

Thank you, Kieran.

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

4th quarter sales were $137 million, up 9% compared to the 4th quarter of 2024 and down 4% sequentially from the 3rd quarter of 2025. Sales to diversified-end markets increased 16% year-over-year. Sales to transportation customers were down 1% from the 4th quarter of last year. Foreign currency changes impacted sales favorably by $2 million in the 4th quarter. Our adjusted gross margin was 39.1%, up 150 basis points compared to the 4th quarter of 2024 and up 20 basis points compared to the 3rd quarter of 2025. The year-over-year improvement in gross margin was driven by operational improvements and the favorable impact of end-market mix. Earnings were $0.67 per diluted share in the 4th quarter compared to $0.38 for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings for the 4th quarter were $0.62 per diluted share compared to $0.50 per diluted share for the same period last year.

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

For the full year, revenue was $541 million, an increase of 5% compared to 2024. Diversified-end markets were up 16% year-over-year. SyQwest added $22 million in revenue in 2025, which was lower than expected, mainly due to the timing of government contract awards. Excluding SyQwest, sales to diversified-end markets grew 14%. Sales to the transportation-end market were down 7%, mainly due to the lower sales of commercial vehicle products. Foreign currency impacted sales favorably by $3 million in 2025. Our adjusted gross margin was 38.5% in 2025, up 150 basis points compared to 2024. Primary drivers of the improved gross margin include the favorable impact of end-market mix and operational improvements. Foreign currency rates also had a favorable impact of approximately $2 million in 2025. We remain focused on strengthening our gross margin profile by growing our diversified-end markets as well as continued operational improvements.

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

Our adjusted EBITDA margin for the year was 22.8%, an improvement of 40 basis points from 2024. For the full year 2025, our earnings were $2.19 per diluted share. Adjusted earnings were $2.23 per diluted share compared to $2.12 per diluted share for 2024. The U.S. tax legislation changes had an adverse impact of approximately $0.03 on adjusted earnings per diluted share for 2025. Moving to cash generation and the balance sheet, our cash flow was strong, and we generated $29 million in operating cash flow for the 4th quarter of 2025 and $102 million for the full year. Our balance sheet remains strong, with a cash balance of $82 million and borrowings of $58 million from our credit facility at the end of 2025. During the quarter, we repurchased 398,000 shares of CTS stock, totaling approximately $17 million.

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

For the full year, we repurchased approximately 1.4 million shares, totaling $57 million. In total, we returned $62 million to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in 2025. We have another $90 million remaining under our current share repurchase program. We remain focused on strong cash generation and appropriate capital allocation and continue to support organic growth, strategic acquisitions, and returning cash to shareholders. This concludes our prepared comments, and we would like to open the line for questions at this time.

[Operator]

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. Please pick up your handset when asking a question. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device.

[Operator]

Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. Your first question comes from the line of Hendy Susanto from Gabelli Funds. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Good morning, Kieran and Ashish. Congratulations on finishing strong in 2025.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Thanks, Hendy, and good morning.

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

Thank you, Hendy.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Kieran, I would like to ask your assumption within your 2026 guidance with regard to the smart actuator. Do you have more updates and insights into customer preference in terms of their dual-sourcing approach?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Yeah, Hendy, we're actually continuing on both the legacy platform and on the new platform, which we launched last year. The new platform is getting launched across different engine platforms.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

I think I mentioned in the prepared remarks that we're also enhancing the cost-production efforts in that area in the second half of this year as well. We feel pretty good about where we're going on that side of it.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Okay. Then any insight into new product in transportation or in other diversified-end markets that you have positive expectations for year 2026?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Hendy, on the transportation side, you probably saw that we secured approximately $100 million in new business awards across all regions with accelerator modules, but also brought in some new products into the portfolio with brake-applied sensing, floor hinge, which will add revenue in 2028 because of the longer development lifecycle. We're advancing on current sensing. We've got an advanced development award, which we're very excited about, with our DrivePad, which links up to the software-defined vehicle architecture for the future.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

So we feel a lot of good things going there. On the medical side, a lot of momentum. We're making good progress on therapeutics. We're also making progress on diagnostics. You saw some other wins mentioned there as well. Pratik, do you want to elaborate on diagnostics, maybe, or therapeutics?

[Pratik Trivedi, COO at CTS Corporation]

We continue to see strong momentum in both the therapeutics as well as the aesthetics application. We have strong collaboration with some of our key customers at this point, working jointly with their product development to launch products that has a strong potential in the future. At the same time, we also are launching products in the connectivity component space, especially in the aerospace and defense, that has a strong potential in the future as well.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Good. So Hendy, hopefully, that gives you some color about what we're doing.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Thank you. Thank you, Kieran and Ashish.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Let's get back to the queue.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Thank you, Hendy.

[Operator]

As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. Please pick up your handset when asking a question. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Your next question comes from the line of John Franzreb with Sidoti & Co. John, your line is open. Please go ahead.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking the questions. I'm curious about what you said about SyQwest, or Kieran. You said that there was maybe some deferrals in some of the jobs. Did you have actually revenue move from Q4 into Q1, or is it longer tailed than that?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

No, John. I think we were making reference to just the timing of government funding in 2025.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

It was a little lighter than we expected, and we expect that to normalize here in 2026. And so revenue wasn't as robust as we would have liked it to have been. But you know us. We don't give up. And for 2026, we already have some good contracts coming through in the pipeline with some momentum. So still more work to do, but key for us going forward as well.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Got it. Got it. And when we think about the revenue guidance for the year ahead, what is maybe the net new product introduction relative to the offset of maybe some of the programs are going end-of-life? Do you have a sense of how much incremental revenue represents new products coming online in this year? John, Ashish, do you have a number of that?

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

Yeah. I don't have a number to give you, John.

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

As you look at the different things that Kieran and Pratik both talked about, we get more revenue recognition quicker on the diversified side. On the transportation side, as we have talked about in the past, it takes 2-3 years. So the floor hinge win that we had in Q4, we'll expect revenues from that in 2028. So as you see momentum on the diversified, a good portion of that is either coming from new products or new customers or new products with existing customers. And there's good momentum on growth activity as it relates to that. And Pratik also mentioned some of the traction that we are getting on the diagnostic side with portable ultrasound where we don't have meaningful revenues at this point, but we see that as a growth market.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Got it. Got it.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

It also seems to me that you're becoming a little bit more confident in some of the industrial opportunities. Am I misreading that, or is the visibility improving versus say, three months ago?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

John, we think it's improving. It's been a constant improvement quarter-over-quarter throughout 2025. If you even look at the book-to-bill ratio of 1.11, and bookings were up 22%. So we feel like we're on a good, steady path of improving trend here.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Good. Regarding the outlook in the transportation sector, dare I say it, you're only down 1% in the fourth quarter. Do you feel like we're bottoming, or what's your assessment of what you see in the transportation market? And really, could you kind of divvy up the two main parts, the commercial versus the ground vehicle?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Yeah, John. I think we're a little bit conservative. We haven't called it bottom.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

We'd like to get a quarter or a day or two behind us, but you can tell we're definitely trending in that direction. We've seen some improvement, small improvement in commercial vehicle in the fourth quarter. We think for 2026, the first half is going to be a little bit lighter than the second half, a little bit richer. There could be some pre-buy with the new emission standards coming out in 2027. On the light vehicle side, if you look at the market, it's just what people are saying out there. It's a very mixed bag. You've got some people saying up 2% or 3%, some people saying flat, some people saying down a point or two. We think somewhere between flat and slightly down is where the light vehicle market is going this year.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Yeah, I agree with you.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

It seems like the number's moving every other week, almost. Can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing in the M&A market? I know that's a core part of the growth strategy. Maybe talk about what you're seeing as far as the opportunity pipeline.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Yeah, John, we're actively working the pipeline. Nothing to report today. But obviously, the biggest focus is on diversification and expanding that diversification rate and some niche technologies for transportation. But valuations are still high. We're looking for the right assets, and we're working it hard.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Okay. Fair enough. And just one last question. You talked a little bit about China. Can you maybe give us an overall assessment of what you're seeing in your other markets by geography ex-transportation, if you will?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Yeah. When you look at the diversified markets, that was your question, John, right?

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Yes. Yes, sir.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

We are expecting good momentum across the board in different parts. Activity is good. We are not seeing any concerns in any parts of the world from the diversified end markets. On the defense side, we are focused primarily in North America with some exposure in Europe that we are continuing to build. On the medical side, we are seeing good momentum across the world, as well as in industrial. We are seeing good momentum in all different parts. Okay. That's good to hear.

[John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.]

Thanks for taking my questions. I appreciate it.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Thanks, John. Thank you.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Hendy Susanto with Gabelli Funds. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Hi, Kieran and Ashish. I have two more follow-up questions. In industrial and distributor, how do you characterize among your sales matching the end demand and then sales toward inventory rebuild at your customers?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Hendy, what I would say in the true distribution, what we've seen is solid demand, good increases year-over-year, quarter-over-quarter. We also see our customers actively managing their inventory. So some of them have their inventory levels down, some more optimized. But we feel good about demand there going forward.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Yeah. Okay. And then, Kieran, what is your latest market assessment of China transportation market? We know that transportation design cycle may take 2-3 years, but in China, it's faster. So any strategic direction for 2026 in terms of your transportation business in China?

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Yeah. Hendy, we would say we believe it's reached the new normal over there. We are with the transplant OEMs out of Japan and selectively with some local Chinese customers.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

The other thing, when you talk about the speed over there, we have our local team for the Chinese market in China. They're actively engaged with new products and development over there. We feel good about the work we're doing there and obviously working that pretty hard because it's a tough market.

[Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds]

Okay. Thank you, Ashish. Thank you, Kieran.

[Ashish Agrawal, CFO at CTS Corporation]

Thanks, Hendy.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Thank you, Hendy.

[Operator]

As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. Please pick up your handset when asking a question. If you're muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Kieran O'Sullivan for closing remarks.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Thanks, Elizabeth, and thank you all for your time today.

[Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO at CTS Corporation]

Diversification remains a strategic priority to drive growth and margin expansion. In addition, we're expanding in vehicle powertrain-agnostic solutions. We are guided by our Evolution 2030 strategic initiative to enhance our emphasis on growth, operational rigor, employee engagement, while also giving back to the communities where we operate. We look forward to updating you on our first quarter 2026 results in April. Thank you. This concludes our call.

[Operator]

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO
• Ashish Agrawal, CFO
• Pratik Trivedi, COO

Analysts

• Hendy Susanto, Analyst at Gabelli Funds
• John Franzreb, Analyst at Sidoti & Co.